Fluid transferring apparatus



Nov. 5, 1968 N. E. JAMESON FLUID TRANSFERR ING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 17, 1966 FIE l 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 F'IEL Z 3'5 4 92 @"100 n2 0 86 k G I 125 85 v INVEN'I'OR NEAL E. JAMESON BY (a M ATTORNEY Nov. 5, 1968 Filed Jan. 17, 1966 N. E. JAMESON FLUID TRANSFERR ING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR NEAL E. JAMESON BY W ATTORNEY Nov. 5, 1968 N. E. JAMESON 3,409,047

FLUID TRANSFERRING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 17, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 I INVENTOR man. s. JAMESON ATTORNEY ABSTRACT O F THEDISCIQOSURE' I A fluid transferring apparatus including-a turntable rotatably mountedon'a base; an upstanding-riser conduit mounted on the-turntable and an arm-like'conduit'pivotally connected tothe riser, a 'mas't on the turntable, a

U ted S ate Paten system ofsheaves and cables associated withthe base, a

turntable, and mast to rotate the turntable on the base, and another sheave and cable system associated with the turntable, mast; and arm-like conduit to pivot this conduit ontheriser.

The present inventionpertains to fluid transferring apparatus and, more particularly, to such an apparatus which is movable by mechanical power about vertical .and horizontal axes and which ofspace. I h,

The fluid transferring apparatus of the present invention is especially adapted to be mounted on board ship. In this manner, the ship candeliver or receive ,fluid cargo can operate in ajminimurn at piers where, for economic or other reasons, there is no pier-mounted marine arm.There are several problems involved in mounting a marine loading arm on board a ship. The arm must .beof' minimum surface'area and height in order to minimize the .effect of wind action against the arm, and the arm must occupy,'and1be able to operate" within, a minimum .of horiz ontal deck space.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fluid transferring apparatus.

Anotherobject is to provide a fluid transferring apparatus which is movableb'y mechanical p ojwer 'about vertical and horizontal axes and which canloperate'iii a minimum of space. V hi Another object is to provide a fluid transferring apparatus especially adapted to be mounted on beard a ship. Y

Another object is to provide a ship mounted marine arm which'has a compact horizontal slewing mechanism capable of slewing the arm whether the deck of the ship is horizontal or inclined. h

These, together with other objects, will become' zipparent upon reference to .the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a'side elevation of a fluid transferring apparatus mounted on board a ship and embodying the principles of the present invention. I p 7 FIGURE 2 isa rear elevation off'the apparatus shown inFIGUREl."

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged rear elevation of a portion of the apparatus of FIGURE 1, with partsbeing brokn away, and particularly illustrating the horizontal slewing mechanism of the present invention. a h FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 3 and'with partsbeing broken away- FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section taken ona plane indicated by line 55 in FIGURE 3'. p

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged view, partially in side elevation and partially in section, of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.

With reference to FIGURES '1 and 2, a deckof a ship is generally indicated by the numeral 10, and railing 12 7 3,409,047 Patented Nov. 5, 1968 projects .upward from. the deck. The fluid transferring apparatus embodying the. present invention includes a hollow frusto-conical base 14 secured .to the deckv and spaced inwardof the railing. As best shown in, FIGURE 6, a circular rim 15, having a U-shaped cross-section,,is rigidly secured to the upperend ofthe base in concentric relation therewith. This rim has spaced upper and lower flanges l6 defining a channel therebetween, and upperand lower sleeves 17 and 18 are respectively secured to these flanges, outside of the channel, andon the same side of the base, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

.An outside swivel joint 20 (FIG. 6) includesa male portion 21 having a horizontal. flange boltedto the rim 1 5, and an upstanding flange. projecting into a female portion 22. The female portion rotates relative to the male portion and is facilitated in this rotation by,.balls 24 removably received in grooves between; the male and female portion. An annular outermounting plate 25 is bolted to the female portion of.the swivel. joint and is located in a substantially horizontal plane.

. A transfer conduit 30 includes an elbow 31 projecting into the base 14 and having an inner, upwardly disposed end 32 closely spaced below the outer mounting plate 25. This transfer conduit has an outer end portion 34 adapted for connection to the hold or other fluid receptacle, not shown, on board the ship. An inside swivel joint 36 includes a male portion 38 formed as a portion of the inner end 32 of the transfer conduit, a female .portion 39 circumscribing the male portion, and balls 40 removably received in grooves in the male and female portions so as to mount the female portion for rotation relative to the male portion. An inner mounting plate 42 is secured both to the female portion of the inner swivel joint and to the outer mounting plate. A gasket or static seal 43 is interposed the inner and outer mounting plates, and a dynamic seal 44 is located between the male portion 38 and the plate 42. The female portions 22 and 39 and the outer and inner mounting plates 25 and 42 constitute a turntable 45.

The inner and outer mounting plates 42 and 25 have openings communicating with the elbow 31 and with a riser conduit integrally projecting upward from the outer mounting plate. This riser conduit includes an inner fluid conducting pipe 51 in direct communication with the elbow 31 and an outer steam jacket 52 in spaced circumscribing relation to the inner pipe. It is to be understood that the fluid transferring apparatus shown and described herein may be used for conducting hot or cold fluids and thus may be provided with the necessary insulation, such as the steam jacket 52 affords.

From the foregoing, and with particular reference to FIGURE 6, it is important to note that the riser conduit 50 is mounted on the base 14 for rotation about a vertical axis, this being the longitudinal axis of the riser conduit.

Although well known in the art, the subject fluid transferring apparatus also includes an inner swivel joint 56 (FIG. 2) connected to one side of the riser conduit 50, an inner conduit 58 having an inner elbow 59 connected to the swivel joint 56 and an outer elbow 60 connected to an outer swivel joint 62, an outer conduit 63 having an inner elbow 64 connected to the swivel joint 62 and an outer elbow 66 connected to an outboard coupling 68 (FIG. 1) by swivel joints 69, 70 and 71. Thus, fluid communication is effected between the outboard coupling and the transfer conduit 30 through the riser conduit 50, the inner conduit 58, and the outer conduit 63. Furthermore, the inner conduit is mounted on the riser conduit, by the swivel joint 56, for pivotal movement about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the riser conduit; normally, the inner conduit pivots relative to the riser conduit about a horizontal axis, but such axis moves P? ier zit iia i i ethade k. ti 49! wave action. Also, 'tlie'oute'riconduit pivotsrelative' tdthe is fixed 'against rotation, andarijouterpulley' '81 'is secured to that portion of the outer swivel joint 6 2 whichis rigid with the outer conduit 63; ,thus, theinri'er pulley is fixedjrelativeto the riser conduit 50, whereas the outer pulley rot'ates'fwith. the outer conduit relative to thelirinerf conduit; Furthermore, the outer pulley is concentric withthe, outer axis andcoplanarfwith'the'linner pulley.' A cable 83 is trained around the innerjaild fouter pulleys and fastened thereto, and outer ctmduit cont'rq,1.. y' ers ssa efcon t d m n cab e n opb it' ,sides of thelinner conduit. Piston ree "8L6 projectoutwar d from the cylinders, and are also connectedft'o the cable. Thus, by retracting one of the piston rods, and -al- "lowing the other, to extend, the oilterconduit is piy'o an inlleither a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction about the outer axis. Th e mechanism described in paragraph for controlling the movement of the outerconduit is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Bily, Ser. No. 171,841, assigned to the assignee of the present application, andthus forms no part of the present invention.

Insofar as the present invention is concerned, however, it is important to note that a mast 90 (F,IGS.1 4 has a lower end 91 rigidly secured tothe upper end'of {the riser conduit 50 and an upper end 92. A grooved upper wheel 95 is mounted on the upper end of the mast v g for rotation about an axis parallel to said inner axis of the inner conduit 58. A powered elevational control 'winch 96 (FIGS. 1 and 2), incorporating a brake not shown, is rigidly secured to the outerv mounting plate 25 and includes a drum 97 located directly below the upper wheel and having its axis parallel with the axis of the wheel. The winch includes a cable 98 wound aroundthe drum and trained over the upper wheel. The cable has an outer end 99 connected to a bracket 100 which is rigidly secured to the inner conduit 58 relatively adjacent .to the outer elbow 60. Thus, operationof the winch raises and lowers the inner conduit about its inner axis.

Furthermore, because of their mounting, the mast and the winch are rotatable with the riser conduit, the inner conduit and the outer conduit, about the vertical axis of the riser conduit. A significant feature .of the present invention is, a mechanism 105 for rotating, that is slewing, the apparatus about the axis of the riser conduit 50. This mechanism includes a pair of lower brackets ,107 (FIGS. 4 and 5) rigidly secured to the female portion 22 of the outside swivel joint 20 and projecting outward therefrom beyond the rim 15. Left and right lower sheaves 109 (FIG. 4) are individually rotatably mounted on these brackets 107 in generally tangential relation to the rim right upper sheaves 114 are rotatably mounted in-the Hayingadescribed;theninvention, whatis desired to be upper brackets on a common axis and are likewise individually spaced above andin acute angular relation to the lower sheaves.

Slewing cylinders 118 (FIGS 3 and 4) have spaced ears 119 pinned to lugs 120 rigid with and projecting sheaves and extend downward around the lower sheaves. :1 j

*The cable-.125. passes from its lower sheaves entirely around the rim 15,.in the channel thereof, and has an end 127 extended thro gh the upper sleeve 17. The other cabl' l'2 ti passes'rram itsloiver sheaveennrel around .advlbwer the inner and outer'conduits 58 and 63,,thewinch 96 is operatedato-pay. out or in; the cable,-98,,-Eurthennore, when it is desired topivot .theiouter-t conduit relative to the inner conduit, the conduit control cylinders are actuated. By the win'clf'aiid"'cylihders 85, the conduits are movable into antl out 9f a stowed position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. To illustrate how compact the subject apparatus is in its stowedposition,=gcertain dimensions of an actual embo'diment' are given at. thispoint,: it being understood thatthe invention ismot limited .to these dimensions. -In said 'actualambodiment, :thedistance -fromthe deck loto the rirn IS -isthree feet and from the-deck to the-highest point of the apparatusristhirtythree feet; also the maxim'um: horizontal dimension of the"appar'atus in the' stowed position-is twelve feet; and the conduits in said apparatus are fourteen and sixteen inches in diameter. a Whenitis desiredto slew the riser, inner, and outer conduits 50, 58 and 63, the slewing cylinders 118 are operated. ,When theriser conduitiis'to' 'be moved in 'a clockwise direction I as viewed "in FIGURE 5, the piston 'rod 122' fortheleft'" slewing cylinder 118' (FIG. 4) is drawn into its cylinder. and the 7 piston rod for the right slewing cylinder 'isallowed to extend further. out of its cylindertas byblee'dinghuid new the rightslewingcyl- .inde r inwat helf fab l 12 site n'n w ,pla v a(torqueen the left lowersheaye109; this torque .is mp'artedto therturintable 45 causing itto rotate in a clockwise direction Conve rsely, if it isdesired to rotate ,the turntable in. a counterclockwise direction, the right piston rodisdrawn into it s cylinder andetheleft piston rod is allowedto extend. It should, be notedthat, even" if the deck 10 .of, the ship, isinclined, as it often .will be, the cylinders. are still.capable ,of. slewing the turntable. J, The mounting of the elevational control-.winch 96, the lower sheaves 1 09,,and the-slewingpylinders, 118 onthe turntableAS as well asithe mounting of. the mast 9.0 on the riser conduit 50 results in a very compact structure. The,.winch-control of. elevation movement of theinner ,andaouterconduits 58. and 63, ayoids the use of any counterweights on arms projecting from the inner conquit; asa result, the total height of the apparatus is minimized andthe amount .of horizontal space. required when, the inner vvconduitjs in its..proje cting positions. is also minimzed. Havng the slewingcylnde s disposed up- ,right rather than horizontalalso minimizes the horizontal dimension oftheapparatus.

Also, theturntable 45, the base 14, and the rim 15 cooperate to facilitate-the, slewing action whether the deck -10 of the. ship is horizontal or-'inc lined. I

Although a preferredemb diment of. the present in- ,vention- .hasbeen shownand, described, it will be understood the various changes and modifications may be. made ;in the details thereof .wit-hout, departing from; the spirit and-t e cop Qf app ded claimS- I secured by Letters Patentjs as follows: a

1.;5In;.a fluid transferringapparatus including-a riser conduighaninner conduigpivoted to the riser conduit for elevational movement, and means for pivoting the ,inner conduit relativeto the-riser conduit,the,c0mbination of a base; a turntable rotatably mountedgon {1116, base, said riser conduit-. being ;se cured, =to. the turntable and projecting .upward frorn.the base;. a mast mounted on and projecting upward from 'the riser conduit; means in the base for conductingrfluid to,, or from rthe, riser conduit; and means :{for rotating; the; turntabletincluding. a rimv secured to the base in circumscribing relation to the axis of rotation of the turntable, a lower sheave mounted on said turntable, an upper sheave mounted on said mast, a cable trained around said sheaves and rim and having opposite ends, means connecting one end of the cable to the rim, and means interconnecting the other end of the cable and said turntable for tensioning said cable.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said fluid conducting means includes a transfer conduit projecting into said base and wherein said turntable includes swivel joint means interconnecting said transfer conduit and riser conduit.

3. In a fluid transferring apparatus including a riser conduit, an inner conduit pivoted to the riser conduit for elevational movement, and means for pivoting the inner conduit relative to the riser conduit, the combination of a base; a turntable rotatably mounted on the base, said riser conduit being secured to the turntable and projecting upward from the base; a mast mounted on and projecting upward from the riser conduit; means in the base for conducting fluid to or from the riser conduit; and means mounted on the turntable, associated with the mast, and connected to the base for rotating the turntable relative to the base while maintaining fluid communication between said riser conduit and said fluid conducting means in the base, said rotating means including a rim secured to the base in circumscribing relation to the axis of rotation of the turntable, spaced lower sheaves mounted on said turntable generally tangentially of said rim, spaced upper sheaves mounted on said mast and individually located above said lower sheaves, cables individually trained around corresponding upper and lower sheaves and wound in opposite directions around said rim, said cables having lower ends adjacent to said rim and upper ends adjacent to said mast, means connecting the lower ends of the cables to said rim, and fluid actuated means interconnecting the upper ends of the cables and said turntable for tensioning said cables to rotate the mast, riser conduit and inner conduit in opposite directions relative to said base.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 including an outer conduit pivoted to the inner sonduit, means for pivoting the outer conduit relative to the inner conduit, said means for pivoting the inner conduit being capable of moving the inner conduit into a stowed position projecting upward in nearly parallel relation to the mast, and said means for pivoting the outer conduit being capable of moving the outer conduit into a stowed position dependent from the inner conduit and substantially parallel to the mast.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 including a vehicle having a deck movable between horizontal and inclined positions, said base being rigidly secured to the deck, and said rotating means being capable of rotating the turntable when the deck is horizontal and inclined.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,927,607 3/1960 Bily 141-388 3,114,392 12/1963 Harper 1376l5 3,176,730 4/1965 Knight 137--615 WILLIAM F. ODEA, Primary Examiner.

HOWARD M. COHN, Assistant Examiner. 

